Devon County Council

From Mike Bomford, Exeter 382173, November 14, 2008

Pioneering work to identify why some children and young people exhibit violent behaviour will be done in Devon, after a leading charity is awarded Big Lottery funding.

The Hampton Trust, a charity based in Hampshire that works to combat violence, conflict and domestic abuse, has been awarded Big Lottery funding for research that will lead to preventative work with violent young people.

The Trust has teamed up with four counties, Devon included, as test areas that will inform work to be done nationally.

While more needs to be known about how best to work alongside violent young people to effect any change in their behaviour, it is known that around 80 to 90 per cent of young people who are violent have experienced domestic abuse within their own families.

It is partly Devon's excellent national reputation for its work to combat domestic violence, and the good work of the County Council's Youth Offending Service - the Youth Justice Board has recently reported that Devon's Youth Offending Service is performing well - that encouraged Hampton Trust to select Devon to work with.

The programme is called LINX, reflecting the point that many of the young people that Hampton Trust has worked with have made links between their past personal experiences, and their violent behaviour.

From these initial links, the young people have gone on to explore alternative ways, to violence, to deal with stressful situations.

The Big Lottery Funding will provide a full-time Young People and Violence co-ordinator who will work with Devon County Council's Youth Offending Service for three years, and with the Council as the lead member of the Against Domestic Violence and Abuse in Devon partnership.

The co-ordinator will also work with young people who have exhibited tendencies towards violence to train staff in delivering a group work programme to help young people explore their behaviour; what causes it and ultimately how to change it. This will establish a core of group workers who will deliver the programme across Devon.

By the end of the three year programme the Hampton Trust aims to:

        Help organisations across the country to better meet the needs of children and young people who exhibit violent behaviour. 

        Reduce the number of children who exhibit tendencies towards violence and young people re-offending.

        Enable the young people they have worked with on the programme to have a positive experience.

        And that half of them will change their tendencies towards violent behaviour.

Kim Brown, Chief Executive of the Hampton Trust said:

"This will be the first time that work like this has been done directly with young people who exhibit violent behaviour.

"We chose Devon to be part of the LINX programme because we have worked with the organisations before and know well their experience in the field of domestic violence and young people.

"The knowledge that the Trust will gain from the programme will be evaluated and shared across the UK to create a national centre of excellence for working with children and young people who show violent behaviour."

Councillor John Smith, Devon County Council's Executive Member for Children and Young People's Services, said:

"We are delighted to be part of the LINX programme and are looking forward to it starting in the New Year.

"Devon has an excellent track record of support for victims of domestic violence, and we are one of the safest areas in the country in terms of the number of young offenders.

"However we welcome this opportunity to engage in this innovative area of preventative work and look forward to sharing our learning with other areas."